Mikes quick reflection !

Sitting back in sunny Devon after our 750 km drive south there's been time for me to reflect upon some of the highlights on our recent Scottish end to end trip

These included a mixture of events and cultural significance -

- Our near disaster on day 1 attempting to get our bikes repaired prior to our ferry leaving !

- Cycling into the middle of a Viking festival in Voe in Shetland !

- Seeing the sun go down at 11.00p.m. and then come back up at bloody 4.00 a.m again Shetland

- Monika finding out that the Isle of Yell and the village of Twatt were aptly named

- Stumbling on to a community fish and chips night in Baltasound in Shetland ,!

- Seeing how little time it took for Monika to turn green on a ferry journey !

- Enjoying our 1 and only rest day in the Orkneys out of our 24 days traveled !

- Viewing the amazing 5,000 year old Skara Brae site

- Completing 115 kms in the gloom arriving exhausted n Lochmaddy !

- The ridiculously hard 55 kms into a 40+ mphr head wind in the Outer Hebrides

- The beautiful scenery on the Isle of Mull and on our journey from Oban through to Taerbet

- Our marathon effort cycling into New Luce

And finally Monika cycling across the finish on the beautifully wild Mull of Galloway - what a way to finish !

For Monika its a return to Australia to recover from her epic ride while for self I'm lucky enough to continue on the adventure trail meeting up with my good mate Kev as we head over to Croatia to commence our long distance cycle to Norway.

The Adventure and Blog continues !

Litchy76b.blogspot.co.uk

Monika's Word

" What a challenge"! I'd forgotten how hard riding in adverse weather could be ! We had the lot - freezing bone drenching rain, hail, wind that made it difficult to stand up let alone ride and of course some sun just when you started feeling suicidal !

The sun when it was out though made Scotland come to life with its emerald colored fields, burnt yellow heather and sapphire blue skies ! There were also plentiful fields of bluebells and amazingly vibrant rhododendrons to provide for a kaleidescope of color !

My favorite place was on the Isle of Mull at Tobermory with its lovely scenery, brightly colored houses and magical harbour ! Next time though I intend to visit by car as the Isle also came with its fair share of damned steep climbs !

The Outer Hebrides brought about my lowest point on tour with its incessant gale force winds making cycling almost impossible - our learning point was to next time check a destination for its prevailing wind direction just like the other 99% of cyclists We'd seen had !

Despite the hard yards and the occasional grizzle I can say that I'm pretty chuffed to have completed the not too common double of a Scottish & UK end to end ride and I'm pretty proud of that !

Day 24 - Mull of Galloway (40 kms) - "End to End accomplished" !

After 15 consecutive days of cycling and nearly 1500 kms it was no surprise that Monika's butt was protesting painfully as we cycled the last 5 kms from Drummore to the Stevenson built lighthouse and spectacular cliffs at the end of the Mull of Galloway peninsular.

The "Butt" and other body parts after all had endured 23 days of cycling in all weather conditions including freezing rain and horrendous headwinds as well as over all types of terrain including the bone jarring potholers that seem to make up many of UK's minor roads. All however seemed to be forgiven & forgotten as we approached the finish line of our Scottish end to end ride.

After yesterdays cycling Marathon we reluctantly got going just after 9a.m. needing to resolve some important logistical problems to allow us to finish the day successfully.

Leaving our lovely pub accommodation in the tiny village of New Luce we climbed out of town (as you always seem to do in the UK - I reckon something to do with making it bloody hard for the Vikings to run away with the towns "Jewell's"!) to head across open fields for 10 kms before descending to the main A road into Stranrear.

After another 6kms we entered the centre of town and set about unfolding logistics plan A that required me to take a taxi 10 kms back up the coast to the main ferry terminal to pick up a hire car which we'd be using tomorrow to head South.

Our plans were complicated by the fact that a) there was no car hire place in Stranrear itself and b) being a Saturday the car hire company's hours of opening were restricted.

Leaving Monika babysitting the bikes & equipment I eventually brought our MG6 1.9 Deisel back after finally working out how to start the damned thing (no key) and set about putting into affect part 2 of our plan which required me to disassemble and stow my bike while driving to the finish line some 40 kms away.

This then allowed Monika to continue onwards to the Mull of Galloway (pannier less) by herself while I could then reassemble my bike and cycle back to meet her somewhere en route to allow us to cycle over the finish line together ... complicated, your bet !

Leaving Monika on the road I flew along the narrow roads to the lighthouse passing some fabulous Mull of Galloway ocean scenery that I would ultimately sadly miss on bike.

After a prolonged tea break i then cycled back into a Shetland force head wind to meet Monika, who'd made good time, at the village of Drummore thus allowing us the pleasure of cycling together for the last 8-9 kms of our trip.

The Southern most point in Scotland is situated on a spectacularly wild and rocky promontory with sheer cliffs and a lighthouse that acted as our visible beacon for the last stage of our epic cycle.

I think Monika was deliriously happy to have completed the long journey, not in terms of success but in knowing that she could finally get off the bike and get her "butt" some much needed therapy !

Regardless, it was an absolutely fabulous effort for someone who cycles so infrequently - a journey made up of plenty of determination albeit with a few thousand Grizzles ! Monika now adds this to her 2,000 km 2011 UK end to end ride making for two fantastic cycling achievements something she should feel as proud of as I am of her

After a celebratory cuppa at a nearby cafe and some obligatory photos it was time to disassemble both bikes in the now freezing gale force winds and drive the car to our overnight b&b only 5 kms back up the track

What a fabulous effort !

Day 24 - New Luce (112 kms) - "So far for a sore Butt "

We knew that this was going to be a make or break day, long kms, an uncertain direction and a lateish start with our ferry arriving at Ardrossan  Harbor at 10a.m. following our early departure from Campbelltown at 7.30.

The weather was again good to us without being too warm with our first 40 kms winding in and out along the Ayrshire coast following National Cycling Network route 73 which at least seemed to be heading in the right direction

Along the way we passed the slightly more opulent Troon area with its white sandy beach and the sight of early summer paddlers dabbling their feet in the I suspect, freezing shallow waters almost 1 km out from the beach front (you'd be exhausted just walking there !)

It was amusing to watch the sun baking pale skinned Scots roll up their sleeves and take advantage of the first signs of summer all be it in temperatures of around 15 c !

The other claim to fame of this area and viewable on the bike , is that the coastal areas house one magnificent golf course after another with Troon ,Turnbery & Prestwick (the original) having hostiped the British Open !

With the winding NCN route and much to look at, it had taken us 2 & 1/2  hours just to reach Ayr ! Here the route became painstaking (designed by some sadistic cyclist) as it took us through a maze of buildings doubling the time needed on the bike !

Monika had almost reached melt down by this stage threatening to take her case to the human rights commission after first murdering me, as i told her we still had over 60+ kms to go !

Switching to one of the A roads the pace picked you a bit as we road the coast road to Maidens and Gurvan finding the last 6 kms into Girvan a bit daunting competing with trucks and buses route on the A75 the main Glasgow route.

The road out of Girvan was a test climbing through the hills while giving fabulous views back to the famous Aisla Craig, the solitary island rock that features on TV whenever a major golf event is played at Prestwick.

We pushed on for another 15 kms on winding quieter roads across beautifully green fields to Barrhill famed for its religious martyrs, and then turned inland for an amazing 20 + kms on single track roads .

This predominantly forest farming area was almost moor like with hardly a single car in sifght and only the occasional farm house - eery to say the least ! .

Keeping us company through the moor section though was a rail line still in use (we think) that at least told us civilization was somewhere nearby although apart from a few cows it was hard to tell where. !

With the gloom descending and Monika's butt suffering we rocketted the last 8 kms downhill at 50 km hr speeds with great forward visibility & road conditions.

We flew into and very nearly out of our destination village of New Luce arriving at our pub accommodation at 1 minute to 8pm exhausted after 10 hours on the go and horrified when reading outside that last meals were served at 7.45pm !

Thankfully the pubs owners relented allowing us to clean up (read use a splash of deodorant) before coming down to dinner to tiredly celebrate an exhausting day !

Will today's push make tomorrow's final day easier .. only time will tell !

Day 22 - Campbelltown (60 kms) - "Its officially heroic" !

It was definitely a day of heroics with a touch of "BOB"ism to it ! Handsome pilot (read rider / self) with serious wounds (read knee tendonitis) in control of rapidly failing plane (read bike) dodging lethal flak (read road potholes) in a valiant attempt to get his crew (read me) back to safety ... OK maybe overdoing the analogies just a tad !

The day had started out well enough when we opened the curtains to our 4th consecutive day of sun, surely some sort of Scottish record. Not quite a heat wave though as temperatures were still only around 15 c.

We'd just packed and departed our lovely b&b when a quick inspection of the bikes had showed mine to have 2 broken spokes on the rear no doubt caused by yesterdays undulating ride on minor roads complete with its many potholes as is common in the UK.

With no bike shops around all we could was to redistribute the pannier weights taking some off my bike and placing it on to Monika's (... did I mention a commendation for her effort !)

Our plans to take the B road route to Campbelltown were thrown out the window for the direct A route knowing its better maintained conditions.

Despite the increased volume of traffic the A road did have some superb sections on the coast with views to the Isles of Isla and Arran - at tines the scenery was almost Australian like although the rocky beaches and pungently powerful Scottish seaweed told you differently.

Picnicking half way with our hordes of supplies (lesson learned from yesterday) we lay about in the sun. What a difference it makes to the countryside - all the colors seemed so incredibly vivid !

It was in the end an easy 60 kms (if there is such a thing) with thankfully no further damage suffered to the "old girl - (read bike not Monika"! )

Our b&b provided us an incredibly spacious room that would have allowed you to swing from the ceiling if you were so inclined and even put on a bbq which the b&bs owner delighted in telling us wasn't as good as bbq'd kangaroo thinking that was what all Aussies ate - regardless the evening and our weather was delightful.

Tomorrow we're up for an early ferry crossing to the mainland proper at Ardrossan before we tackle a trip defining 110 kms (without maps) through Ayrshire to near Stranrear to set up our final days push to complete this epic and help restore Monikas badly needed sanity !

Day 21- Taerbet (78 kms) - " Starving in the middle of nowhere "!

What are the odds, in a country of 70 million people and a landmass smaller than Victoria we pick a 50 km peninsular that not only didn't have any shops but also not one lousy cafe ! 

The event may have been survivable had it not been for the fact that we'd settled only for toast and fruit for dinner the previous evening and muesli and toast for breakfast this morning - come mid afternoon our protein starved bodies were well & truly paying for it !

We'd started off well enough bidding farewell to our host James, a walking history encyclopedia, and his own cottage which came complete with a mysterious wood and single standing stone indicating ancient pagan origins.

Much to Monika's chagrin we started the day by backtracking 3kms towards Kilmartin to visit the Temple Wood Stone circle and 5,000 year old burial
chambers that make this area one of the richest concentration of prehistoric areas in Scotland.

I must admit I did give temporary thought to leaving Monika locked in one of the chambers but the odds of me getting away with it weren't that good given the likelihood that another tourist would let her out in a day or two.

We with that thought packed away till the next opportunity, we turned around heading now this time in the right direction on this superbly sunny day although still only around 14 c !

After 10 kms we joined on to the amazing man made Crinan canal, 14 kms long and completed in 1801 allowing boats yachts to sail from thru 15 separate locks and once sailed by Queen Victoria in a boat towed by horses !

We departed the canal at the ocean at Ardrishaig and cycled along a beautiful section of road with stunning sea views. It wasn't long before we reached our B road turn off and started climbing steeply on single track road.

It didn't take " Old Eagle Eyes " long to retort " hey why are we going this way when Taerbert is still 50 kms when the A road we were on indicated Taerbert only 15 kms away" !

I mumbled something about the scenery and continued quickly to cycle the 5km climb to the peak

A magic descent was followed with Monika still cursing until we reached the ocean with stunning views out over the ocean towards Jura. Apart from the constant undulations this was almost as good as it gets !

Our plans had been to make it to the half way point at Kilberry for a much needed lunch but to our disappointment the one and only inn was closed. This now meant we had another 25 foodless kms to cycle before reaching Taerbet.

On low energy reserves and with the hills now kicking in, this was tough going and it wasn't long before my bike parts started looking tantalizingly "edible" with my handlebars starting to resemble licorice all sorts !

Somehow we made in through to the beautiful port of Taerbet, spied a Co-Op supermarket and in almost cave men like frenzy jointly set about devouring anything within reach !

With the feeding frenzy over and our bodies well satiated, we took a lovely 2 km cycle along the waterfront to our stunningly positioned b&b.

A tough day all round !

Day 20 - Kilmartin (75 kms) - " A day in the sun " !

After a Witherspoon's breakfast and some lunch time supplies from Tescos we left Oban "N THE SUN" taking a steep climb out of town

Once past the "burbs" we were cycling through stunning open scenery on winding single lane tracks thankfully small enough to prevent trucks and caravans from using. After 20 beautiful kms we arrived in Taynuilt and decided to celebrate the appearance of summer by ordering a cuppa with of course obligatory sticky date pudding and ice cream - absolutely decadent and absolutely "gut swirling" as the next 15 uphill kms were to prove !

Our route followed close to the shores of sparkling Loch Awe for the next 30 kms on a roller coaster ride similar to the punishing terrain in Devon / Cornwall. Gut busting short climbs of over 15% followed by a moment of glee on descent that brought us straight back to another gut busting climb !

It would be fair to say that an amount of walking was to be had with our knees beginning to feel the constant pressure of the step climbs.

We stopped mid way at Davlich for lunch comprising a sandwich and a milk shake (the sun was still out !) before more of the punishing same finally emerging at the lochs end at a small village called Ford.

From here it was a good run through historic Kilmartin Glenn to the Kilmartin Pub to get directions to our out of the way Stone Cottage situated literally in the middle of nowhere.

Our incredibly knowledgeable host James gave as the low down on the areas history which included a wood in James' backyard that houses a standing stone suggesting a very ancient past.

With toast and fruit for tea after our earlier indulgences, it was time to hit the sack dreaming of the klaiderscope of Scottish colors that wed seen in todays sun !

Day 19 - Oban {60kms) - " Back to Oban" !

Well the jury is in, there appears to be as much chance of Monika doing an adventure cycling 3peat as i do of growing back my receding hair line ! After 15 days of cycling she's finding the going pretty damned fatiguing !

I find her call though a little tough, I mean really, living out of a pannier bag with clothes that can almost talk back to you, cycling in weather conditions akin to what the early polar explorers faced and doing this day after day after day - who wouldn't find this enjoyable ! 

Sure there is some detriment to continual cycling but these are minor - i may have to headbutt the toothpaste tube to open it in the morning to deal with the fact that I have little or no energy left and cutting your way through the fatigue fog can be as simple as putting stick it notes on your feet so your brain can more easily identify which is the right one and which is left one - apart from these small problems cycling continuously is a breeze !

In short it's all about commitment .. or being committed .. i'm not really sure which !

We awoke after a good nights sleep in the honeymooners suite (no there was no energy for that stuff) and took up Donnas offer for a massive breakfast.

We'd worked out that the strange shiny thing we'd seen outside was in fact the sun and set out to take full advantage of it by walking into town to buy some picnic type food for the road. After being lucky enough to have been served by someone who would have preferred to have been cleaning toilets with both arms in plaster, we headed back up the hill to pack our bikes and take a circuitous route back to Craignure for our ferry to Oba

It was straight into climb mode leaving our b&b with the the sun causing us to remove one of of our 14 layers. We'd been pre-warned that our route to Dervaig had a couple of serious climbs in it but as tough as they were they seemed so much more manageable in the pleasant conditions and sparkling countryside.

A left turn at Dervaig took us along a Glen towards Salen, 20 kms of magic scenery passing through a valley with only a smidge of road traffic.

A 5 km descent into Salen brought us back on to the  Sound of Mull. We were so deliriously happy that we decided to picnic en route sitting on benches overlooking the sound with our 14th layer now back on because of the chilly conditions. Why is it that England is having a heat wave with 20 c temps and it is still so cold in Scotland ... it's supposed to be summer !

Back on the bikes we completed our 60 km journey for the day riding into Craignure in time for the mid afternoon ferry back to Oban and to our 1/4 star accommodation just off the esplanade.

Trying to put a bit of normalcy back into our lives and to help make Monika forget that she still had  5 more days of this delight to go, we watched the Rock save the world at the local cinema before having dinner excited to be doing this all over again tomorrow !

Day 18 - Tobermory (35 kms) - " Off to the Isle of Mull" !

We checked that we hadn't come down with overnight diseases before catching up with friend and fellow adventurer Ruthy M and her Scottish partner Steve for breakfast. On a quiet Sunday morning in downtown Oban this was easier said than done but eventually we found an open Witherspoon's !

After time in Alaska and Australia and shared bike trips previously in Peru and the Indian Himalayas, it was great to hear about Ruth's latest journey i.e. with partner Steve as soon to be proud parents - you can't beat that one, well done guys !

After wishing Ruth and Steve well it was time for our first challenge of the day - how to get our bikes down 2 steep floors in our hotel without killing ourselves or some innocent bystander should the bikes run away !

With the mission accomplished with minimal casualties it was tme for a gigantic hot chocolate at Costas before our ferry across to the Isle of Mull (thankfully for Monika only a 45 minute trip) for our very own Enid Blyton cycling adventure.

With only 35 kms to cover and the first 15 being dead flat it was all "peachy" until we rounded a bend and found that we'd somehow entered a leg of the "Giro" with the road now a series of never ending undulations with some pretty serious short climbs !

As usual we had to do this all on single track road sometimes barely moving up a hill with cars waiting patiently at passing bays somehow expecting you to find an extra gear or three !

Finally after nearly 3 hours a long downhill run took us into the delightful sea side town of Tobermory resplendent with its multi coloured main street buildings.

We'd unfortunately though missed our turn off on the last steep section so had to painstakingly walk back up the hill (impossible to ride with panniers) to our b&b.

Our B&B owner greeted us royally and generally reinforced what a delight b&bing can be with hosts coming from all walks of life. Donna, tonights host, has done it rough over the last 10 years but that didn't stop her from having a warm smile and promising us a huge breakfast tomorrow !

After a short rest we walked back own our steep hill to have a lovely harbour side dinner at one of the local pubs. I reckon looking at the bill that if we keep doing this Monika might have to plan to work for another 20 odd years !

Today's significant events were 2 1) the sun did actually make an occasional appearance and 2) much to Monika's surprise we'd racked up over 1,000 kms so far on tour a pretty amazing effort on Monika's part given the incredibly trying weather conditions !

Tomorrow we head back to our possibly still standing accommodation in down town Oban !

Day 17 - Lochboisfale / Oban (18 kms) - "Back on the Mainland" !

What we couldn't accomplish yesterday we set about to do this morning cycling the18 remaining kms to our ferry departure point at Lochboisdale.

The fact that our b&bs roof was moving most of the night told us that the wind was still strong. By mid morning though it had backed off a little giving us some hope that a) we could cycle in a forward direction b) our ferry would not be cancelled because of rough seas - apparently a real threat !

First though we had to negotiate our way through an even greater problem i.e. how we were going to eat our way through a massive home cooked breakfast that comprised 4 sausages as well as bacon, beans, eggs , tomatoes and mushrooms ! Wash this down with cereal, fruit juice, tea and toast and there was a real danger that we may not even make it out the front door !

We said a grateful goodbye to our hosts with Murdo proudly pointing out his near lifetime supply of locally farmed peat while giving me a personal demo of his peat farming tool.

We cycled back towards where we'd taken dinner the night before giving thought to requesting that desert we believed was owing to us although how we'd eat it in the rain was beyond me.

I made a mental note at this point to next time check for prevailing wind direction when planning a cycle trip as 99.9 % of cyclists that we'd passed on the Outer Hebrides were going in the opposite direction. ! It was though with some sort of sadistic pleasure that I noted that this morning those cyclists were doing it much tougher than us !

What a delight it was to cycle the last 6-7 kms into Lochboisdale ! Who cared if it was still cold and overcast and threatening to rain at any moment - the fact that the wind was behind us made us deliriously happy !

After arranging our ferry tickets we had tea in what has to be the smallest tea shop in the UK - it was that tiny that if one person moved in the shop everyone else had to as well !

We were relieved (or at least i was):to see our ferry roll into the Lochboisdale Harbour. For Monika though it was another 5 hours of nausea as we pitched our way across the waters to the Scottish mainland and the bustling port of Oban

It took us a few minutes in the rain to find our b&b after disembarking at Oban in fact we cycled straight past it as on the outside it looked like a derelict building - yep & on the inside we confirmed it was in fact a derelict building !. Still it was cheap as I continually reminded myself while carrying our bikes up 2 steep level of stairs !

We quickly washed to head straight back out hoping to catch up with fellow adventurer Ruthy M and her partner Steve (I'd cycled twice previously with Ruth in Peru 2011 & the Indian Himalayas in 2013)

Unfortunately not all went to plan with the ferry running late and the European Cup final on TV meaning the pubs were packed causing us to postpone our meet till the morning.

In the interim it was some Rick Stein recommended fish & chips (recommended back in 2002l to help us make it through the night !